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Re: Therapists who do not negotiate fees?

Posted by pegasus on July 21, 2008, at 10:56:16

In reply to Re: Therapists who do not negotiate fees?, posted by Lemonaide on July 20, 2008, at 19:00:10

I've been told that - at least in my state - it is not legal for a T to charge one rate for insurance, and another for those without it. That said, I did have a T at one point who gave a discount after my insurance ran out for the year. I don't know if he didn't know the laws, or if there really isn't a law against that. If I had to bet, my money would be on his ignorance of the law, or perhaps a knowledgeable flaunting of it.

And, of course, there are many, many Ts around here who have a sliding scale. I think adjusting fees to fit incomes is in a different legal category than adjusting fees to encourage not using insurance. It seems to be mostly those who are earlier in their careers, though. I always figured that was because everyone, including Ts, likes to be more financially stable as they get older. Plus, they probably aren't as hungry for clients when they're more experienced/established as they are when newly licensed.

Keep in mind, too, that out of that fee, a T usually needs to pay rent for their office, malpractice insurance, any assistant's salary, answering service fees (or other phone fees for their business), higher taxes for being self-employed, fees for any consultation/supervision, and cover all the time they spend outside of sessions but still working (paperwork, research, consultations, supervisions, etc.) I've probably forgotten other things. But my point is that perhaps some Ts have more expenses than others, and so find it harder to flex their fees?

I remember calculating once that my T probably brought home only about half of what I paid him. For what that's worth. It didn't add up to a very high income. And he was well established. So I guess I was getting an excellent deal.

- peg

 

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